The Kingston House: The Woman in the Photo
by Eragon5055
Summary: This is a fanfic that takes place in the universe of the Paranatural webcomic by Zack Morrison. It can be found here: / I am using my own OC's for the story and I'm trying to write it so you do not have to read the comic to understand, but I recommend you read it anyway, because it is awesome. Memories of the mother of Ethan Kingston's daughter.
1. Chapter 1

The Kingston House: The Woman in the Photo

Part 1

A Paranatural fanfic

by

Eragon5055

_Disclaimer: I don't own shit. Don't sue, I have no money._

* * *

There's Something about Mary

4-year old Joan Kingston sat by the fireplace in her near empty house. Her father was gone this morning; his part-time internship at the local hospital had called him in on emergency notice. Her baby-sitter/nanny, a ghost of a mobster named Randy, was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her.

She sat there, looking at a picture on the mantel above the fireplace. The photo held her gaze, her mind too young to fully comprehend why and yet old enough to realize its importance.

The picture was off two smiling people, a man and a woman. She recognized the man on the left as her father, he looked slightly younger, the bags under his eyes from late nights working non-existent in the photo, his arms wrapped around the woman in the picture. The woman on the right smile was contagious and lively, her arms under her swollen pregnant belly. She had raven black hair that went to her shoulders and she wore a blue blouse with short sleeves that covered her form. On her right arm was three-clawed mark, scarred across the flesh. Jo thought she was the prettiest girl she ever seen. All she knew of her is that she was her mother, a mother that she only saw once when she was far too young to remember with new-born eyes.

_7 years ago (give or take)..._

**...**

"I can't believe you convinced me to go to that party." Exacerbated Mary.

"I said I'm sorry, I thought there was at most only going to be a little booze, I had no idea they were going to have drugs there too!"

"Shhh, keep your voice down Sam, you want to get in trouble?"

The two girls stood together at their adjacent lockers. Mary listened to her friend's apologies and explanations. She wasn't as angry as she let on, more annoyed at her friend for running head at a opportunity to be popular instead of applying caution. She placed her backpack into her locker and put down her hood to reveal her fall-in multi-colored mohawk.

Mary was known for her eccentricities around school, and today was no exception. Her face was rather round with small deep blue eyes and three piercings on her left nostril and one on her bottom lip on the right side of her face. She wore blue jeans with a hole in the left knee and gray tennis shoes. Her top was a black t-shirt that displayed her favorite band, with a grey unzipped jacket with the sleeves ripped off. She was rather short and gangly, though Sam often said she could look cute if she ditched the piercings and attitude. Sam was one of the few people that was not put off by her appearance and she wasn't about to ruin their friendship over the matter.

"You know what, it's all right. Next time though, let's make sure to actually learn about people before you go and party at their Mom's house or whatever." The two girls then took to silence as they got ready for their morning classes. No one spoke

"Shouldn't you also be worried?"

"Why would I be worried?" Mary blinked.

"You did slap a joint out of a dude's hand before storming out of the party."

"...So?"

Sam let out an audible groan, "That was Ethan Kingston. You know, the richest kid in the school if not the whole state?"

"Oooooh, you mean that 'perfect' rich kid? The guy that has some of the highest test scores in the history of the school? What was _Richie Rich _doing there?"

"I would be more concerned whether he's mad at you. I hear his family is super powerful. If he's mad, he could, I don't know, send someone to _assassinate_ you or whatever."

"Sam, he ain't going to send someone to assassinate me. You've been watching too many movies lately."

"If you aren't worried about him, you should be worried about Heather at least, I hear she's been aiming for him. After the stunt you pulled at the party, He left right after and Heather throwing a hissi-fitt about missing her 'golden opportunity. She'll be gunning for you"

Mary rolled her eyes. "Let the queen-bitch try, she's too afraid I'll send her skinny ass to the hospital if she messes with me."

"Speak of the devil, here comes both Heather and Ethan."

Mary turned her head to see Ethan coming around the corner to their section of the school. He wore button up a button up clean shirt with clean pants. He was about average height for his age with light brown hair and clear green eyes. His face was squarish with a slightly big nose, not especially handsome but nowhere near ugly. Following behind him, walking fast to catch-up was Heather, Miss Popularity herself, with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and designer clothes to match.

Sam and Mary watched the exchange as Heather called out. "Hey, Ethan wait-up!"

He turned around, his eyes briefly meeting Mary's. She swore she could see a slight change in his demeanor, but it quickly disappeared as he smiled at Heather. "Oh hey. Nice to see you Heather."

"You're so mean Ethan!" Heather pouted "You made a girl nearly run just to catch-up and talk with you."

"I'm sorry." He stated, "I didn't realize you need to talk to me."

Heather let out an obvious fake sigh. "It's all right. You can make it up to me by going out with me after school." She beamed.

"...I'm sorry, I'm going to have to decline." He smiled.

"Don't be embarrassed, it's not like.. wait what." Her confidence deadpanned.

"I am going to be extremely busy after school today," Heather opened her mouth to speak but stopped as he continued to speak. "And probably going to be busy for the foreseeable future. Again, I'm sorry, it really is out of my control, its family business you see."

"I-I-I see..." Heather stammered

He rubbed tousled his short hair "Again, I'm sorry. I'll try to make it up to you later."

"It's...O.K." She said more to herself than to him.

"I'll see later at fifth period."

"See you later..." she said half heartedly. He turned back around and continued down the hall. Heather stood still, flabbergasted at the turn of events.

Her head creaked to the side and noticed Mary and Sam in the corner. Mary would have described it as the biblical Beast turning its gaze toward you and letting loose a roar to shake all of Hell.

"You!" Heather stormed toward the duo. "This is your fault Freak!" she growled threw her breath.

"How is it my fault you crashed and burned?" Mary stated, refusing to back down under the assault.

"You caused him to leave the party yesterday night, it was the perfect chance to make him mine."

"You planned to seduce him when he got high? That's a new low, even for you."

Heather fumed, "What would you know Freak. I bet no one has even looked at you without running in fright."

"And I bet your personality does the same thing to them." Mary remarked.

Heather fumed and stormed off. "This is over freak."

Mary responded appropriately and with as much grace as she was known for. She flipped Heather the bird.

"Good Riddance." Sam sighed in relief. "Come on, We're going to be late for first period"

Mary hurried and grabbed her things and headed to class, her thoughts drifting strangely to Ethan.

_'Why do his smiles look so..._

_ ...forced?'_

...

The school day went by quickly, the bell for the end of the classes bringing relief to everyone. Mary was planning to head straight home after such an exhausting day, but she received a phone call from her mother to go and pick up some groceries and a dress at the dry-cleaners across town, putting a damper on the idea to go home and take a nap.

By the time she finished picking up the dress and the produce, the sun started to set on the town, the streets glowed a dying orange. As she walked down the sidewalk, the street was empty. Sounds of dogs barking and tires screeching echoed in the background.

On her ears were headphones attached to a disc-player clipped to her pants, playing her favorite song. She danced down the sidewalk, careful not wrinkle the dress or drop her bag of groceries.

As she was singing to herself, she failed to notice as a person ran right in front of her, nearly running her over. Startled and suddenly angry, she turned to this her head to find the culprit and yell the obligatory 'Hey.'

Her gaze was met with strange and surprising revelation

"...Ethan?"

The young man had paid her no mind and had darted down the corner at the back of the alley.

Whether out of curiosity or the need to give him a piece of her mind, she did not know as she darted down the alleyway after putting down the dress and groceries.

...

As she rounded the corner, a body flew across the alley, flying past her and landing 2 feet behind her.

She rushed to his side and looked behind her to see the attacker, anger and confusion flashed in her eyes.

Nothing. The alley was bare. Dirty and bare.

She turned her head back to Ethan as he slowly and painfully got up. His furious glare met her confused expression. "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Startled by his sudden outburst, she could barely make an intelligible response "I-I was, I saw y-you and-"

His fierce gaze turned back to the alley "Shit!" he growled and raised his palm as if to stop an incoming force.

Mary looked behind her again, an empty alley met her gaze.

"What is going-"

Her right arm ripped open, red spattered out. Intense pain flooded her System as she fell down to the sudden and intense pain.

The word "Damn it!" hit her dulling ears as she hit the ground and unconsciousness took her.

The only thing that went through her delirious with pain mind was the sound of countless profanities shouted by her companion and '_Huh, so 'mister perfect' swears like a sailor. I might actually be able to like him._'

...

She woke-up in the middle of a mansion. Her senses were dulled extremely, she could not feel her arm nor the couch that she was laying on. To her right was a coffee table with a box on it that was revealed to be a first aid kit as her blurred vision began to focus. Next to the kit was a small metal drawer full of water and a couple of bottles filled with liquids she could not identify.

Sitting on his knees with a pillow under them was Ethan. He had been moving his arms around her upper arm doing something, but she couldn't move her stiff neck to get a better view yet.

"Finally awake I see." He stated calmly.

"Look, if you plan to assassinate me, there are easier ways." she mumbled, still half delirious.

He cocked his eyebrow. "...What?"

"Nothing." She said as she regained composure. She tried to sit up, but Ethan put his hand on top of her and kept her down.

"Stay down, I haven't finished stitching yet" She reluctantly complied and watched as he continued to sew her arm back together.

"...Unusual first date. Do you so up all the ladies you meet?" she giggled.

"Is not one of your responses sane or normal?" he irritably spoke back.

"...Sorry, My head is fuzzy. What questions should I be asking?"

He sighed. "How 'bout, 'Where am I?'"

"Yes, that." She pointed with her other hand.

"You're at my house, receiving the best treatment I can give you given our... situation."

"Go on." She smirked, "You seem to be good at asking and answering my questions."

His scowl returned as he continued to work. "You're here because a normal hospital would not be able to treat you due to the nature of your injury. A special kind of... poison, for a lack of a better term, had entered your system through this nasty piece of work." He pointed at the arm. "You would have been writhing around in pain for weeks due to the poison and your sanity would have been tested, not to mention your wound could have got injected if not treated soon."

"So, I almost died?" She said, her voice suddenly went quiet.

"No, the cuts didn't go that far deep, it would have taken you hours to be threatened to die of blood loss, you got extremely lucky that way. Where you were unlucky was the fact that the pain from the poison is near instantaneous and would have put you more on the threat for psychiatric treatment."

"...Oh"

"'Oh' is right. What the hell was going through or thick skull to follow me into that alley?" He barely could keep his voice civil.

"I don't know... I was curious and I-"

"You ran into an empty alley after a guy who you barely know when it was getting dark. I don't believe I can stress this enough."

"Not one of my brightest moments... I guess"

"Understatement of the year award goes to the dumbass on my couch."

"Don't give me that, I saw you with that joint. I slapped it out of your hand."

He froze. "...That was a moment of weakness. And don't change the subject." He made a quick movement with his hand and the thread snapped off at a mid-point.

"Owww..." she moaned

"So the anesthetic is wearing off, that's good."

"You could have used scissors to tamper the stitch off you know."

"I could have." He stated. He then started to wrap up the arm tight in a bandage.

"You're going to need change that bandage every once and awhile until those cuts heal. I'll send you home with some."

The word home went through her head. "Oh shit! My parents, they are going to be soooo pissed."

"Your parents have been called informed of your situation already. They know you were attacked by a 'wild animal' but you are safe and sound and the animal has been caught. But to be sure that the animal didn't have any infectious diseases, you will be staying the night here. That will give us plenty of time to make sure the antidote did its job and the pain won't start up again."

"But wait a minute, there was no wild animal! There was absolutely nothing in the street."

Ethan turned and started to pack up his supplies. "My parents are out of town on a business meet, so the house is pretty empty today. I'll leave this paging button for you to call our maid, Lily, if you need anything as she works for us 24/7. The bathroom is down the hall to the door on your right, and Lily will be with you shortly with some dinner that I am sure you missed." He then yawned and said "Me, I'll be seeing you in the morning."

He got up and started to walk away out of the room. "Hey!" she yelled back to him. "you still haven't explained what happened in that alley!"

"Goodnight!" He tauntingly yelled back. "I would also advise you not to move so much, the antidote works best if you are resting! Lily will bring you blankets and a pillow so you can sleep on the couch!"

As he disappeared past the hallway, Mary slumped back. "O.K. I take it back. I don't and never will like him."

(_to be continued_)


	2. Chapter 2

The Kingston House: The Woman in the Photo

Part 2

A Paranatural fanfic

by

Eragon5055

_Disclaimer: I don't own shit. Don't sue, I have no money._

* * *

The Plot Thickens, About Dam Time

Ethan sat on his front porch, watching his daughter play on the lawn.

It was the Weekend, and for once he wasn't on call at the hospital. Though, the day was blistering hot, and his air conditioner had been broken again, (his 4-year old daughter had accidently caused a large sharp rock to impale it) He was happy to be home and relax. He sat in the shade and watched his daughter play in the sprinkler he set up to keep cool in this hot day.

Ethan had become a little taller since his high school days; his facial features remained nearly the same, save for the new dark lines under his eyes from lack of sleep, the result of working late shifts and early mornings so he could be there for his daughter during the day. He wore a white t-shirt, and nice jean-shorts, as he sat on his porch drinking water.

His daughter on the other hand looked far more like her mother. She had a round, flush face and short, nearly black hair that only went down as far as the base of her neck. It was soft and feathery, a blue ribbon bow tied into it. Her skin was tan like the dry earth, a trait she picked up from neither side of the family, and was skinny without a trace of baby fat on her body except possibly her cheeks. She shared her father's green eyes, albeit in a darker shade.

His daughter played with some small spirits in the sprinkler, she laughed as she splashed water at two that looked like tiny old men and giggled as they grumbled at her.

His daughter had been destined from birth to one day become a spectral. Everyone in the Kingston family was made to become one sometime around puberty; Jo was just a little ahead, being four years old. Ethan truthfully wished that he could have introduced her to the spirit world much later, (in fact he rather it would be never) but the events of his daughter's birth had forced the processes ahead of schedule.

Jo Kingston was a spectral, just like her father. She had the ability to see the supernatural world that surrounds humanity but remains separate to those unable to connect with it. She was gifted with the ability to produce and shape her own black spectral aura just like all spectrals, though she at the moment could barely make solid shapes.

What made Jo unique among spectrals was the fact that she was a host to a very powerful spirit of the earth, a medium. She had contracted the spirit into her body a couple of hours after her birth, the spirit slowly changing her into a spectral so that it might be able to absorb and share in her energy and one day be free. In return, Jo was able to control the earth and stone around her, it gave her a connection with the earth, something the four year old was not in full control over.

Still, Jo was happy and excited when her powers manifested around three months before her birthday. Ethan was quite happy that he bought a possessed house that could regenerate from the damage.

Ethan's house was also an oddity; it was possessed by a spirit to make it a tool. Ethan had found it about a year ago and didn't realize that the spirit housed in the building had drawn him in until he and Jo had moved in. The house was two stories tall with a garage attached to the side, it was painted a coppery brown, its roof was colored black. It had a front porch sticking out that started at the side of the house and ran along the front to the garage. A paved walkway connected the house to the street, the building looking a little skinny from the front as most of the house was toward the back.

The outward size of the house didn't matter, the house had an infinite amount of space and corridors on the inside, defying all convention. Ethan could control the number of rooms and the lay of the inside of the house however he deemed fit and the house could repair all damage done to it, a useful feature since Jo had the tendency to cause quakes and shift the earth when she had a nightmare.

As Ethan sat on his porch, he heard an engine approaching in the distance. He turned to see that the noise belonged to a beautiful red sports car. Its finish gleamed in the light as it drove down the street where Ethan lived. The car rolled to a stop on the curb in front of the house.

The driver side door opened, a young lady step out of the car. The girl had long light brown hair tied into a ponytail. She wore a light blue jacket and a low cut v-neck with jeans that were form fitting. She smiled and waved to Ethan. "How's it hanging bro?"

Jo jumped with excitement and ran toward the girl. "Auntie Selene!"

Selene embraced her niece, not minding her being a little wet. "How's it going little hell raiser?"

Jo answered in a serious tone. "Dwaddy said that you aren't swupposed to say that word."

Selene chuckled "That's because your daddy is a little too uptight."

Ethan got up from his seat. "Nice to see you too sis. I see you passed your driver's test. I am terrified for the drivers on the road now."

Selene laughs at his little poke. "Hey, I'm an excellent driver I'll have you know."

Ethan just smiles and shakes his head. He turns then to Jo, "How bout you go inside and get dry and dressed so you can play with your aunt without soaking her, I'm pretty sure she'd like to return home nice and dry. I left your dry clothes on your bed and a towel in the bathroom."

Jo jumps up and down, her spectral energy slowly coming off her due to her excitement. "O.K Dwaddy" she states before she races to the house.

Ethan waits for her to enter the house before he turns back to Selene and asks, "So what brings you all the way out here, that's a long distance to travel for a visit without calling first."

Selene smiles playfully, "What, I can't just visit my brother and my favorite cutest little niece on a whim?"

Ethan sighs, "Selene-".

Selene cheerful demeanor then changed to a more serious tone. "You right though, I do have a reason to visit my brother before calling in, I don't want Mother to know that I warned you. She's been monitoring my calls, making sure I haven't tipped you off."

Ethan eye's narrow. "... What is she up to that she doesn't want me to know about?"

"She's planning a surprise visit. I think she hopes to ambush you so you are unprepared to dispute her."

Ethan's hand tenses. "What does she want?"

Selene turns her head and leans against the car, while still looking him in the eye. "She wants to get Jo a private tutor from the family."

"She wants to put an ear into my household."

Selene shakes her head. "It's more than that. Mothers afraid what you might be teaching her about the family, she wants to lesson your hold on her by having a hand in Jo's education, make her more receptive to joining the rest of the family."

Ethan turns to his side and mulls the information over. He turns to his sister. "Thank you Selene. You risked putting up with Mother's retaliation by coming here."

Selene smiles brightly. "It was nothing. I'm not going to leave my big bro hangin' just because Mother says so."

Ethan returns her smile. He hugs his younger sister and says to her. "You know you are always welcome here if you decide to leave that household. I promise to protect you from Mother, no matter what."

Selene shakes her head and smiles weakly, "I couldn't do that to you. Besides, I'm not as strong as you, I don't think I could ever be brave enough to defy Mother like that, and I'm not smart enough to escape like you did by deciding to become a doctor."

Ethan gives her a warm smile. "I wasn't strong enough either, I had major help, in the form of a swift kick in the pants."

Selene laughs, "You needed it too! You were far too grumpy."

Ethan's house door swung open and the four year old came rushing out, fully dressed and dry in a sun-dress with pictures of cartoon sharks decorating it. "I'm dwone Auntie! Look at my dwress!" She says as she does a twirl.

Selene cheers, "That dress is _super cool_. I wish I had one like it."

Ethan watches as his sister and daughter interact, laughing and playing as Selene played and giggled with his daughter. He smiled and looked at a picture in his wallet. The picture showed a young punk teenager, sticky her tongue out with her hands in the sign of an L above her forehead.

_I had a lot of help._

_7 years ago (give or take)..._

**...**

**_Ethan _**

Ethan was furious. All the swear words in the world could not describe how angry he was at this moment. It didn't stop him from trying as he spit out every curse he knew.

He stared down the violent spirit, a passed out girl with a bleeding shoulder lay on the ground between them. The spirit's mouth drooled with anticipation, waiting for Ethan to remove the thick bright pink shield that separated them.

The spirit looked like a grizzly bear except a couple of noticeable features. First was the fact its shoulders were much larger than that of a normal bear, making its upper body larger and more akin to a gorilla's. Second were the various poles of jagged metal protrusions coming from its back. Third was the fact that it had no lower legs, just a trail of crimson smoke that flowed from its body.

Ethan had been approached about dealing with the spirit about a week ago by one of the older spectrals in town. The spirit had formally been a tool and recently was reformed, but instead of thanking the spectral that revived it, he had gotten a taste of the ability he had been using when the spirit was a tool. Ethan had to decline then, his Mother didn't want him to get involved with local spectral affairs, it wasn't their problem. Now three others were suffering from the same pain.

While Ethan could not help them directly at the time, he was able to procure with the help of his maid lily items and herbs necessary to counter-act the spirits ability, which behaved much like a poison. One scratch from the spirit will cause the victim's whole body to surge with nightmarish pain none stop, the person unable to adjust or become numb to the pain. Without the treatment, pain could drive someone insane.

Once his Mother and Father had set out for a business meet in Tokyo, he jumped at the opportunity to take care of the problem, a tiny rebellion against his family. He had taken the vaccine earlier that day so he could resist the effects of the spirits ability and had managed to track it to this part of town.

He chased the spirit down the alley-way, nearly bumping into a girl on the way. The spirit had ambushed him from around the corner and slammed into him sending him flying and landing on his back. Ethan ignored the pain of his landing and quickly tried to get up.

Then the idiot girl had to follow him into the alley, making her a target for a monster that she could not see nor hear. The poltergeist took the opportunity and charged at him and the girl, it's huge claw came slashing down at them. Ethan tried to put up a spectral shield as fast as he could to stop the blow but wasn't fast enough. The shield not fully formed protected most of the girl's body, but the claw managed to scratch her shoulder before being repelled. The sudden pain had caused her to pass out from shock and she fell to the ground like a wet noodle.

Now Ethan had to deal with protecting the girl and fighting off the dangerous spirit. He sat behind his shield, guarding her and him from the beast, looking for an opening. The spirit did the same and circled the two, it mad mild attempts to break the shield, testing how sturdy it was.

Ethan watched its movements as he cursed, his mind running through his options. He could try to call for back-up, but it might take too long, the spirit was here and if it chose to flee through the buildings there was no way he could keep a beat on it and it would get away. Also his Mother would find out that he had disobeyed her and had hunted for the spirit by himself. He could try and force it to retreat, and focus on getting the help for the girl, but that could put others in danger. Standing here and just guarding was getting him nowhere and it was doing the girl no favors. He cursed under his breath, _'One option left'_ he thought.

Ethan let go of the shield, the bright pink energy dissipated, leaving him and the girl bare. The spirit didn't miss a beat and charged into the space previously occupied by the shield. Ethan was ready for his assault and bright pink energy flashed in his hands and he fired the energy into the spirits eyes.

The spirit, suddenly blinded, roared in pain and slashed wildly at Ethan's general direction. Ethan leaped into the air, using the spirits head as a stepping stone jumped over the spirit, sending three more shots of spectral energy onto its back as he leaped over it. He landed on his feet and took off at full speed.

Ethan's tactic worked, the spirit turned away from the girl, forgetting about her entirely, focusing on the teenager that had just blinded it and blasted its back. The beast barreled at him at full speed, easily able to outrun the teenager. Ethan jumped to the side to get out of its path, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws.

Ethan formed his most trusted construct out of his spectral energy; a bright pink knife formed and glowed in his hand. The spirit slashed at Ethan and Ethan responded in kind. The beast yelped in pain as one of its claws on its paw was removed by Ethan's knife. While it didn't have the reach of a sword, the knife had more control and precision, the small size of the construct allowed Ethan to make and keep it unnaturally sharp.

The beast backed-up in surprise at its sudden loss of a digit. Ethan didn't let up and took the opportunity. He charged his knife with an overabundance of spectral energy, his own body giving off energy in a smoke due to his extreme emotions. The knife last its solidity and as he swung it down on the spirit, the blade stretching outward and bending, the blade slicing the spirits face in half, making a perfect split.

The spirit fell down and its body began to give off white smoke as the spirit began to lose its form. It was about to go into the stage of that a damage spirit goes to right before it dies, taking a white gaseous form, searching for any object or person of compatibility to join and save itself from ceasing to exist.

Ethan flipped his knife in his hand, catching it at the tip and threw his construct at the spirit on its last legs, the spirit proving too dangerous to give it an opportunity to come back. The knife struck the gaseous form, the blade sunk in and the gas dissipated, the spirit faded from existence.

Ethan let go of his construct and let the knife dissolve along with the spirit to nothing as he headed over to the unconscious girl.

He began to recognize her. This girl went to the same school as him. Her vibrant hair made her stick out among the halls. Mary Lingar was her name, he was sure of it. He was also pretty sure that she was also at the party he attended during the weekend; she had left a distinct impression on him.

The party was at some kid's house when their parents were gone; he never bothered to find out whom. He went there defiance to his family while his parents were gone for their business meet who strictly forbad he get involved with the crowd that had invited him to go to the party, the kind known to do drugs when no one was looking.

He told himself he would not partake in any of the drugs, just be there because he could. Then he was handed the joint.

He sat there, contemplating whether he should use it, his hand and resolve wavering. The joint promised temporary relief from his troubles, taking it might allow him to forget for at least a moment that his life had been ordered and decided before birth by his parents, that to his mother, he was just a future asset to the family company that she intended to mold and then milk for all he's worth.

He had just about put the joint into his mouth when the girl had walked up to him and smacked the joint away, then promptly stormed out of the party. Ethan left soon after, feeling immensely ashamed and angry at himself for almost taking the joint and at the same time felt immensely frustrated.

He bent down and examined her wound. It wasn't deep, but it would scar. It needed to be stitched up and more importantly; the girl needed to be administered the antidote. Ethan cursed at himself for not bringing any antidote; he had his supplies to mat home. He could just leave her at the hospital, they wouldn't be able to treat the pain, at least not before she went insane with pain. She was lucky that she was passed out.

He grunted and gritted his teeth. He was going to have to risk his Mother finding out about his little adventure.

He took out his cell phone and flipped it open. The phone rang in the alley and a voice answered at the other end. "Kingston Estate, how can I help you?"

"Lily? It's me, Ethan. I need you to pick me up quick."

"Yes Master Ethan, I'll be there right away. Where is your exact location?"

**...**

**_Mary_**

The rest of Mary's night went relatively uneventful compared to earlier that day.

She didn't see Ethan for the rest of the night, the maid of the house being her only visitor.

Mary actually felt intimidated by the maid Lily. The maid stood at a towering 6'4" at least and was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes were a vibrant blue and her hair was colored like the sun and was tied into a neat little bun. The 'maid' looked more like a butler, as she wore a black suit and tie with black pants, all steamed and pressed by the looks of it.

The feature that she noticed the most was the maids bust. Mary didn't consider herself shallow, but she was secretly proud that her chest was bigger than the rest of the girls in her class being at a C and was still growing. This lady though blew her out of the water and Mary immediately began wondering about the massive back pains that the maid must have because of those puppies.

The maid had brought her some dinner, a soup. Mary instantly was jealous about how delicious it was. '_Lucky bastard,' _she bitterly thought.

She eventually fell asleep on that couch, her dreams shifting randomly, not giving her enough time to soak them in.

…...

Mary woke up to find a pair of eyes staring at her, a hand outstretch about to poke her. As Mary's eyes widened, the owner of the eyes, a little girl, skittered back and jumped into a fort made of pillows, apparently built while she was asleep.

The little girl popped up from her fortified position, pulling out a large nerf gun in the shape of a rifle. The girl declared, "Identify yourself lady! You're tressleeping in my house."

Mary sat up confused. "Don't you mean 'tres_passing?' _And I was brought here, so I'm not trespassing, if anything, I was kidnapped."

A dart flies out of the gun and hits Mary forehead, sticking. "You're lying. My brother doesn't kidnap people. Especially not some biker chick. You must be a burglar trying to steal our stuff, and was stupid because you fell asleep during the middle of it."

Mary's eye twitched, she struggled to remain calmed. "I aint a burglar kid. My names Mary, and your brother brought me here because he said I got hurt. What's your name brat?"

Another dart fires and hits Mary on the head again, it also sticky. "Selene, Selene Kingston." The girl declared. "And I'm not a brat."

"That's it,_ brat_!" Mary shouted. She grabbed a pillow and chucked it at the girl. Darts and pillows began flying across the room.

Lily came walking in to find the all out war between the two girls. The two shouted insults at each other while Lily sat observing the situation.

"Brat!"

"Skank!"

"Spoiled rich kid!"

"Wanna-be Gangster!"

Lily chuckled "Looks like they're having so much fun."

…...

Somewhere else...

THUD.

The kid fell to the ground, two people standing above him.

"Please, leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you!" The kid pleaded.

The taller of the two smiled reassuringly, "We leave you alone soon enough, just give us any 'tools' you have on you and you'll be free to go."

The kid stuttered, "B-but why, only a spectral of the same general color energy can use a matching tool, mines blue and your energy is green, I saw it. You could use it even if you wanted to, it be useless to you!"

The man chuckled, "I don't have to tell you anything, just hand it over or my associate here will fry you, he's getting a little impatient."

At that, the dark skinned one lifted up his arm and a flame started dancing around his fingers. He remained expressionless as he stared at the boy, his face looked skeletal.

"Alright, alright! Here, have the stupid thing." The boy tossed a pair of glasses down, the glasses smoking with a dull blue aura. "Now let me go!"

The dark skinned man turned to face his compatriot. "Should I fry him now." he said as the flames surged in his hand.

The boy trembled, "I gave you my tool, you said you wouldn't fry me if I did."

The taller man continue to smile, "I believe you are mistaken, I said he would fry you if you didn't hand over your tool, neither of us said anything about not frying you when you gave it to us."

The boy started to cry and shake in fear.

"Now, now." spoke the taller man," Your right, burning you alive would be too messy. I got a better idea, one that doesn't involve you becoming a ghost."

The boy looked up, his tears staining his face as the man pulled out a small book. "Don't worry, this won't hurt at all. In fact, all your troubles will be gone, in a realm of absolute _bliss._"

The man opened the book and showed the contents to the boy. A brilliant light blasted from the book, blinding the boy.

He fell to the ground like a rag doll, his mouth smiling and drool escaping from his mouth.

The taller man bent over and picked up the glasses.

"A bit cliché with your speech Jack." The dark skinned man said, the fire on his hands extinguished. "Sounded like a cartoon villain."

"It was a perfect set up," smiled the taller one, "I couldn't resist. Let's go Sear."

The two men walked off, leaving the boy in the alley.

(_to be continued…_)


End file.
